My Book Store

Friday, 22 August 2014

I am so very glad to be sharing the word of God again this beautiful morning. It's worth all the praises we can give to God to be alive again today. Today's post will be a continuation of the last post a shared on the essence of couples showing respect to one another. By the grace of God the last post was directed to the women, but its not that the Lord does not require the men to show respect to their wives, so in today's write-up I will trust God to open the hearts of men to the need to show respect to their wives.

1 Peter 3:7Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Ephesians 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

In truth, the word of God is always balanced. The Lord created the man and also the woman and He is not bound to favour one gender above the other. So when He gives an instruction to one gender requisite to fulfilling their assignment effectively, He gives also the other gender instructions requisite to fulfilling their assignment effectively.
In the passage above, the Lord will want the husbands in the same way to be considerate and treat their wives with respect. When we look at the instruction God gave through Peter, He wants the husband to be considerate with their wives and treat them with respect, and then He gave the instruction through Paul that the husbands should love their wives in the manner in which Christ loved the church. From these two passages, we can now conclude that the kind of respect the Lord requires from the husband to his wife is one raped up in love.
It is important for the husbands to realize and understand that their wives are the personification of God's favour in their lives. Proverbs 18:22 says "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from God." So when as a man you understand that your wife is the symbol of God's favour in your life, you will learn to value her more, your will learn to be considerate with her and respect her and you will learn to love her. Doing these things over time will develop in you a sense of great value for your wife that you will be willing to give yourself for her just as Christ gave Himself for the church.
Do you desire a change in the character and attitude of your wife? Try show her some love and respect and with the hand of God on your effort, it will not be long before you start to see some changes in her. I have heard it said that women have the gift of multiplying whatever seed that has being sown in them. When you learn to saw the seed of love and respect in your wife then you should expect to reap a harvest of greater love and respect from her.
Peter concluded that verse by saying "so that nothing will hinder your prayers," and this appears to me as a warning for the men to show that failure to be considerate and treat their wives with respect can lead to God not paying attention to their prayers.
This same warning is seen in the book of Malachi 2:13-14 "Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accept them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, 'Why?' It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant." It really looks to me that God is not taking this issue lightly at all. God requires that the husband will treasure his wife and this should be evident in the way and manner in which he shows her love and respect. Failure to do this will make the Lord turn His face from the man.
When I wrote the post for the women two days ago, I felt the Lord might be asking for a little too much from the women on this issue of showing deep respect for our husbands. But by the time the Lord opened up His word to me today on what He requires of the man to his wife on the same matter, I kind of feel God is treading softly with us women. We will have it all good when we learn to show our husbands deep respect. It brings great love and peace in the home.
A man will work into his blessings faster and better when he has learnt to treasure God's favour in his life. He becomes a richer man in every area of his life as he shows God his ability to handle well God's first point of favour in his life. May the Lord help us build a home and a relationship that delights His heart.

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

A beautiful evening to the wonderful people of God. I pray that the Lord will shine down with favour on your and all yours in Jesus Name. It's being a while I wrote on the marriage topic, not that there is nothing to say, but I always have to write as the Spirit of the Lord leads. But I am trusting the Lord that the next few posts on this blog will be an encouragement for married couples.

1 Peter 3:1-2Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

So many women have come to see marriage as a coming together of two individual who they regard as mates and equal partners in the relationship. In as much as I do not wish to comment on the hierarchy of marriage, it is important to emphasize the importance of a wife showing respect to her husband in marriage.
Based on the English Dictionary, the word reverence is defined as 1) a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration, 2) a gesture indicative of deep respect, an obeisance, bow, or curtsy. From what Peter says, the reverence which is a sign or gesture of deep respect from the wife to her husband is a tool in the hands of God in winning over an unbelieving husband to Himself.
Several times women will complain that they are not bound to show respect to a husband who does not respect them in return. I totally agree that respect is earned and cannot be forced, but as a woman of God based on what the Bible is teaching us in the passage above, if by any chance you desire a change of attitude in the life of your husband and wish him to know the Lord and develop a relationship with God, which will in turn develop in him the realization of your value in his life thereby making him love and respect you, then you need to reverence him first, which based on the English dictionary means you need to show him deep respect tinged with awe.
The kind of respect that the Lord demands of the wife to her husband is not just any kind of respect, but deep respect and in fact based on what the dictionary is making us to understand, it is a deep respect that is accompanied with gestures. True, a wife might have developed a great level of closeness with her husband that might not require her to bow or curtsy to him, but still the respect from the wife to her husband should be deep respect.
I have learnt over time to reverence my husband and by the grace of God I have enjoyed the benefits of doing so. I have learnt to treat my husband like a king and he has also grown to see me as his queen. So when he has issues that he needs advise on, he talks to me and in most cases adopts the advise I give to him.
Once I was with a friend who is not a Christian and she heard me talking to my husband over the phone. After a while my husband came to meet me and my friend and she said it was not until she saw my husband that she realised that he was the person I was talking to on the phone. She had thought I was talking to my father noting the level of respect with which I was talking on the phone. She then said, now she has learnt something new in marriage and from that day on she will show better respect to her husband. I so blessed God that day that at least from my attitude I have been able to touch a marriage for the better.
The book of Esther chapter 1 tells the story of how queen Vashti was deposed as queen just by reason of her lack of respect for her husband. You should not expect to be queen in your home when you have not learnt to make your husband the king in the way and manner in which you show him respect. When you have learnt to respect your husband, then you lay a good example for the rest of your household to follow and emulate.
It is only when you have made your husband the king of your territory in your mannerism towards him that you also become the queen of that territory. Also not that the change your desire in your husband will come to be when you have contributed your own input and let God contribute His. May the Lord bless our homes in Jesus Name.

Thursday, 14 August 2014

Luke 5:1-10One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding round him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down the net for a catch.”5Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partner.Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

A very beautiful morning to the wonderful people of God, I really bless God for my on-line family and pray that the Lord will pay attention to you and grant you the desires of your heart.
In my last post I wrote about my big dream and tried by the special grace of God to encourage all those who dare to have big dreams including myself. It was a post that really encouraged me and I was glad to share those words with someone out there who is also daring to achieve something far bigger than him/her.
The passage above is one that has helped my faith. This passage is loaded with lessons that will turn the lives of those who dare to have faith in God around for the best. Dreaming big is a beautiful thing and you will get encouraged and it's easy to have hope when all is going as planned or anticipated. But that is not the case when everything looks blink and unrealistic and if the one who dreams lack the will to persist to push against all odds to attain and achieve the desired goal then dreaming big becomes a waste of time.
I have learnt a lot of lessons from the passage above which is a very good encouragement for those who have tried hard to work at the realization of their dreams and are already thinking of giving up. Peter was a very good fisherman, he understood the techniques of fishing so well, but on that fateful night, he had tried all that he could based on his own ability but he could not achieve anything.
Just when he was about to give up and retire for the night, the Lord Jesus needed his boat for use. The Bible tells us that Peter was already washing his net which is a sign that he was done with any attempt at his trade for the day. But just at that time Jesus needed to sit in his boat. After the Lord Jesus was done with His sermon He said to Peter "launch into the deep for a catch". In order words, just when Peter was finishing with his own attempt and he had exhausted his own ability, the Lord was coming into the situation and taking Peter through an experience he would never be able to accomplish on his own effort and with his own ability.
The good thing Peter did that is worth emulating was that he obey Jesus. He acknowledge the fact that he could not achieve the goal alone, Luke 5:5 says Simon answered, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” But the beautiful thing about the story is that Peter dared to obey Jesus.
Now the lessons I have learnt and will like to share are these:
1) It was not until Peter had tried and was about to give up that the Lord noticed his boat and wanted to make use of it. Had Peter being busy still that night, he will be in the deep waters and his boat will not available for Jesus to use. So I learnt to make myself available for Jesus to use and in doing so, give Him room to help me accomplish my very big and many dreams which I can't achieve based on my ability and effort. Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."
2) Although Peter had worked hard all through the night and caught nothing, yet he obey the Lord as Jesus asked him to let down the net for a catch. So no matter how hard you have tried to make those dreams a reality, there is still an ability that far outweighs your ability. Don't give up, hand that dream over to God and be ready to obey his voice as he directs your steps. He his able to help you make the millions that your limited ability cannot make for you.
3) The Bible tells us that when Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus knees. Falling at the knees of Jesus is a sign of worship, Peter worshipped at the marvelous catch that he would otherwise not have caught by himself. So we should learn to worship and praise God as He opens heaven for us and pours on us the desires of our hearts. Those things we would not have been able to do ourselves. Remember when praises go up, blessing come down.
Proverbs 12:24 says "Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labour", and Proverbs 10:4 says Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. Diligence is not excessive hard work at achieving nothing, but diligence is a persistent hand that does not give up until the goal is reached. But you don't have to work the road alone. Let God lead and you follow and you are sure to achieve more than the catch of fish that Peter caught as a result of obedience to the voice of God.

Wednesday, 6 August 2014

A new month has began and with it comes new aspirations and new things to trust and hope in God for. I pray it brings with it a new beginning for many people aspiring new and beautiful beginnings in different areas of their lives.
I pray specially for me and my family as I trust God for something really big and massive which by human standard and my present financial state, appears like a big tall dream, but not so with my God. And I am sure I am not alone in the field of dreaming big and trusting God for massive projects which might be too mighty for them and so I will want to trust God to speak to people like me through this post.

Proverbs 16:3Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. Some people profess to be realist because they only limit their dreams to what their realty tells them. They dare not go beyond what their limited capabilities are. For such people, dreaming big is like chasing shadows and burdening themselves with things that they have concluded can never come to pass. And in truth they will not go beyond the limit they have placed themselves in. They have by themselves limited their aspirations and if they are not aspiring it, then they might as well not pursue after it and invariably not get it.
But for someone like me, I dare to dream big. David said in Psalm 16:6 "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance," and such is my confession. Just like David, I will not set my boundary lines close to where I am at the moment, I will allow God set my boundary lines far beyond my present reach such that He will have to hold me up to attain that which He alone can help me attain.
Some things I want to run with as I pursue my giant dreams and same I want to share with someone who like me dares to dream big.

1) I will commit my dreams to the Lord. I will commit what I want to do or better still what I want God to help me do to Him who alone can help me attain my dreams.

2) Then I will sow a seed, no matter how small it may be, towards my dream. Something small that the Lord can breathe on and make big in my hands. Remember the law of seedtime and harvest. The seed might not necessarily be in monetary form, but anything that you can sow, please do sow.

3) I will put myself to the pursuits of my dreams following only after the steps that the Lord will lead me through. Luke 5:1-11 tells the story of Peter and the miraculous catch of fish, and one lesson I learnt in the story is that when Peter obeyed the instruction of Jesus and launched into the deep when Jesus asked him to, he caught fish more than he ever did in his entire life of fishing. So what you are unable to do in your own strength, you can achieve even more when following strictly after the leading of the Holy Spirit.

4) And lastly when I have realized my dreams because with God I surely will, I will not take it for granted. I will acknowledge God who made it happen in my life.

Jabez made a request of the Lord, and just as he asked, same was granted unto him. Nothing was deducted from the request of Jabez. So I tell myself and I tell someone out there that "don't be afraid to dream big, don't be afraid to have huge aspirations, don't set limiting boundaries on yourself." One thing is for sure, when you commit that dream to the Lord, He will make them succeed, because heaven and earth will go away but the word of the Lord will not go without accomplishing that for which it has been sent. If the word says you should commit your plans to God and He will make them succeed, then be sure He will make them succeed irrespective of the time factor. He makes all things beautiful in His own time.